Abortion access is crucial

Postbag

Published: 30 Jan 2013 at 00.00
Newspaper section: News

I write in support of the articles by Sanitsuda Ekachai ("Abortion law is misogynistic, not moralistic", BP, Jan 23) and Paritta Wangkiat ("Illegal abortions cost nation dear" and "Three held for abortion service," BP, Jan 24 and Jan 25, respectively).

As a gynaecologist who was the head of the obstetrics and gynaecology department at Ramathibodi Medical School and former president of the Thai Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, I have been taking care of women's health here in Thailand since 1968. I have been trying, through education and training, to save women from needless disability and death as a result of unsafe abortions.

The past four and a half decades have seen many changes and challenges.

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cadcolin
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Discussion 8 : 30 Jan 2013 at 14.168
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all though my own personal view is tending towards against abortion
i believe that woman should have the final say on abortion with no overt pressure from men / society or religious groups free impartial advice and free treatment for woman who want to proceed with an abortion should be universal
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dao
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Discussion 7 : 30 Jan 2013 at 11.527
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I wholeheartedly support abortion .There are 7 billion people on the planet and its snow balling .You need a license to say you are married but anyone can have a kid .If you need more persuasion where would you want your daughter or sister to end up .In a hospital or a back alley ? It will happen regardless .
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lungstib
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Discussion 6 : 30 Jan 2013 at 11.476
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"Women are not dying of diseases we cannot treat. They are dying because societies have yet to make the decision that their lives are worth saving."
This needs to be posted on billboards all over the country.
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dao
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Discussion 5 : 30 Jan 2013 at 11.325
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If a governor put garbage cans and a good recycling program in place along with new parks with clean free public bathrooms that would be enough to get my vote .
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kena
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Discussion 4 : 30 Jan 2013 at 10.384
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I agree abortion should be accessible - particularly for the disadvantaged and poor. Also: tube tying for any man or woman over 22 who chooses, and gets prior counseling. Similar for euthanasia. I jest not.
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brilliant
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Discussion 3 : 30 Jan 2013 at 08.173
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felixqui - "But also worth stressing is that to be truly just and moral, Thai law needs to allow abortion on demand for any reason at least up to six month"

6 months is on the long edge of any legal definition of what a living human is. At 6 months or 26 weeks, almost 90% of fetuses could survive outside the womb and abortions are done by killing the baby in the womb by crushing it's head and destroying it's spine.
Studies have shown human viability to be as high as 20% at 20-22 weeks. Having 20 weeks would be a much more realistic "on demand" limit with special cases for longer term abortions.
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felixqui
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Discussion 2 : 30 Jan 2013 at 07.252
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Well said PROF KAMHEANG CHATURACHINDA.
But also worth stressing is that to be truly just and moral, Thai law needs to allow abortion on demand for any reason at least up to six months, before which the foetus is not a human being, and certainly not a human person.

Persons are what matter most, such as teenage girls totally unequipped to become a mother.
Human beings matter next, such as actual babies at the start of life.
A blob of living human cells that is pre-human being is not the sort of thing that can have rights.
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Renaissance
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Discussion 1 : 30 Jan 2013 at 06.101
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I think that if anyone believes the promises of a campaigning politician, that person must be very naive. Politicians will say and promise anything they have to just to achieve their one and only dream of holding the keys to the public coffers in their hands. It's all they care about and think about. They'll even drive a rubbish truck, a bus, ride a bicycle in the heat, hold a screaming baby, and pose all day in smelly markets; anything, just to get the keys to what they think is Paradise, namely, lots and lots of money. And the people still believe what they say.
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Abortion access is crucial | Bangkok Post: opinion